Happy New Year everyone! I hope you are all doing well!
Here's the next update of my story! I hope you'll like it! ^^
I own nothing, as The Cat Returns is a propriety of Ghibli's studio!
Enjoy!
The young woman was held against a firm and familiar chest, like a bride in the arms of her new husband. She grabbed for dear life at her saviour as he ran from unseen enemies. Her puffy dress billowed in the air, and she wondered if it weren't a problem for the one who was carrying her.
He was climbing some invisible stairs leading toward the infinite universe where nebulas and galaxies were dancing in the sky's ink-black colour.
Someone was shouting to-
"What are you writing?"
Haru jumped at the question, not seeing her best friend coming closer to her until she was looking over her right shoulder.
Putting one hand against her chest, she mocked-glare at the reddish-brunette next to her.
"A warning would be greatly appreciated next time, Hiromi! I was this close from having a heart attack!" playfully complained the former, showing a tiny space between her index and her thumb at the other one.
"We both know that should it happen, I'll be right behind you to get your sorry back out of hell by the skin of your neck." Laughed back the newcomer before sitting herself at the table next to the brunette, then she pointed at the notebook, "I'll ask again, what's this?"
"Just my dream diary," answered Haru, finishing her sentence before closing it. "I didn't get the time to put it down into sentences this morning, just a few keywords before rushing to school. So here I am."
"Well, if you decided to wake up when your clock's beeping instead of putting it into snooze mode…"
"Well, 's not my fault if I'm a night owl." Grumbled the brunette while fetching her bento box from her bag, putting it between them.
"Did you put in it your special vinaigrette?" asked Hiromi, her eyes sparkling.
"Yeah, and don't forget that Monday's your turn."
"Oh, I won't" chuckled the reddish brunette, while dividing the bento content between the two of them, " Wouldn't like to repeat last time fiasco."
Haru giggled a little, thinking back at the day when Hiromi had forgotten to prepare their meal for two. They had to spend the whole day without eating, which wouldn't have been such a problem if it hadn't been for the fact that they had PE as the last class of the day. At the end of the warm-up, both girls had saw whole constellations, and the teacher had to call for the school nurse as they couldn't move from the ground they had fallen.
Needless to say that since that day, Haru never missed the chance of teasing her best friend about the incident.
Both girls chatted eagerly during the meal break, always finding new subjects to talk about until it was time for class to start again.
Haru cleaned up the table, helped by Hiromi, before putting her bento box back into her bag.
She took the diary she had left on a corner of her desk and after a quick look at what she had written, nodded to herself and put it back into her bag, not thinking about it after that.
oOoOoOoOo
"Oh, how I hate rain season..." grumbled Hiromi while taking her umbrella out from her bag.
"Do you want to come to my house? It's closer to yours, and it'll avoid you to catch a cold." Asked Haru, doing the same.
"Nah, I have some chores to do at home, and I don't want Ma getting mad at me for not doing them sooner." Sheepishly answered her best friend, looking a bit uneasy, "But thanks for the thought! Want to go see a movie tomorrow?"
"I'll tell you once I'm done with my homework session tonight. If I'm too late on schedule, we'll have to delay it to another time."
"I'll keep an eye on my texts, then. See you!"
"See you too!"
Both teenagers parted ways, and Haru put her headphones over her head as she made her way back to her home.
Haru had recently found a renewed interest in movie themes. She soon found herself engrossed in the landscape music created in her mind.
It was something that she often did when she had the feeling that life was becoming too dull for her taste. A sense that she was getting more and more those last few months.
Maybe it was because she was reaching the end of high school or the poor weather that didn't seem to want to go away, but Haru longed for something new.
A car passed by her, and the young woman had to move away to avoid being soaked by the water that splashed in her direction.
That's how she noticed that strange house.
It felt out of place, its old occidental style not blending with the buildings of Tokyo's busy streets. Strangely enough, she had the feeling of having seen it before, even if she knew for sure that she never stepped a foot outside Japan since she was born. Tilting her head on the side, she examined it a little closer from the other side of the road.
It was a two-storey house with only three visible windows and a balcony over the double doors entrance. The timbers were painted in blue over a façade of a very light yellow.
A homey feeling was emanating from the building. Haru knew she would have investigated more if it weren't for the dreadful weather that turned even worse the next moment.
Cursing under her breath, she accelerated her pace, leaving the strange feeling behind her, and soon enough, she had forgotten about it.
oOoOoOoOo
"I'm home!" shouted Haru from the entrance, closing the door behind her and shaking the umbrella from the rest of the water on it.
Her mother didn't answer back, meaning that she was either nose-deep into her work, or out doing some groceries.
She took her shoes off, put her slippers on and went into the kitchen to prepare herself a cup of tea, dumping her bag on the ground next to the dinner table on her way.
Fishing from the cupboard her favourite blend of the moment (green tea leaves, rose petals and bits of tropical fruits), she put some water to boil and went to open the window.
A familiar white cat made her appearance, meowing in relief as she finally was in a dry place.
"Hello, Yuki," smiled Haru, scratching the cat's head, "Dreadful weather outside, isn't it?"
The cat meowed in agreement, making the young woman chuckled a little.
"I wouldn't have said better myself."
The teenager lowered the fire under the water and took a towel from the fresh laundry bag. Grabbing Yuki from where she was sitting, the brunette enveloped her in the fluffy fabric and began to dry her.
The cat meowed and melted in her embrace.
"It feels good, huh?" asked Haru.
The only response she received was a grateful purr.
From the corner of her eyes, she saw that the water was boiling. She turned the fire off and delicately took the water out the cooker and poured its content in a mug. Still holding Yuki, she put the pot in the sink, drop her tea bag in the cup to let it infuse. Taking the honey out from another cupboard, she precariously brought everything in the sitting where she let herself fall in the couch.
The cat seemed to want to get out of the towel, and Haru, judging that the cat was dry enough, took it off and put it next to her, neatly folded to put it with the dirty linen later.
Sighing contently, Haru enveloped her hand around the mug, Yuki a warm presence on her laps.
"I know that we are in June, but with weather like this, all I want to do is to stay at home under a thick blanket reading novels." She commented out loud, and the white cat meowed in agreement while kneading against her belly.
Haru smiled and scratch the cat head, "Sometimes, I wish to be able to understand you. You seem to have a lot of interesting things to say."
Yuki nodded against her, her eyes closed and soon enough, she was taking a nap on the laps of her not-really owner.
The teenage girl smiled and began to sip her tea, sighing as the hot brew gently warmed her inside.
She took her phone and read all the notifications she had received since the morning, chuckling at some silly jokes she found on different Facebook groups.
Half an hour later, she heard someone opening the front door as well as the familiar sound of bags being dropped on the ground.
"Haru?" someone called.
"In the living room, mom!" answered back the young woman, "Unfortunately, I can't help you. Yuki is monopolizing my laps once again!"
She heard an exaggerated sigh coming out from her mother.
"Really, I still don't know why I am letting you take care of her." She mocked accused.
Truth to be told, the first time Yoshioka Naoko had seen her daughter petting the white cat after giving it her fish crackers several years ago, the older woman had freaked out and forbidden young Haru from being close to Yuki, or any other cat.
She had gone against her mother wish and daily took care of the cat, always being severely reprimanded each time Naoko caught her red-handed.
Then one day, her mother told her it was okay for her to keep Yuki. Since then, she had become a part of the family while still being not quite domesticated, sometimes spending days without being seen.
Haru was quite fine with the arrangement even if she sometimes wondered what could have changed her mother's mind like that overnight.
As if understanding that her not quite mistress was needed somewhere else, the white cat jumped from Haru's laps. She stretched a little before trotting toward the kitchen where Naoko was, rubbing against the older woman legs while purring.
Not having any excuses to stay on the couch, Haru stood up and went to help her mother. Dancing around each other to put the groceries away, the teenage girl listened to her mother about the day she had.
She learned that Noako's boss was finally letting her take a week off for all the days she had worked when she didn't have too.
Haru was glad heard that, as she couldn't remember the last time her mother had at least a day off.
Soon enough, the pair were done with the groceries. After looking at the clock, Haru realized that she had to begin her homework soon if she wanted to sleep before midnight.
"I'm going to my room, some work to do. Call me when it's time to help you for dinner?"
"Of course, honey." Smiled the woman, "Love you."
"Love you too." Answered the teenager.
She grabbed her schoolbag she had left on the ground earlier and after one last scratch on Yuki's head, who seemed to have decided to stay with Naoko and went into her room upstairs.
Once sitting at her desk, she realized that she still had her bento box in her bag. Shrugging, she put it near her door, intending of taking it downstairs when she would be called for dinner.
She took her works for the weekend and didn't spare a second look to her dream diary as she put it on her bedside table.
She groaned while reading her first assignment.
How I hate mathematics.
Thank you for reading! I'm looking forward your opinions about it!
Until next time I wish you all an amazing day!
